The Most Underappreciated Type of Chess Move

You will hear it all the time: don’t trade pieces without a reason. And when you reach a higher level, that is fair advice, when the margins between winning and losing become much slimmer. But for most players, it is worth giving your attention to the trees and not just the forest – that is, always make a point of considering your captures!

Captures are strong moves. You could reasonably argue that they are the strongest moves outside of checkmates (or at least, checkmate sequences!). By definition, a capture is a move that takes away part of your opponent’s army, which in the long run makes it harder for them to keep their king safe.

At its simplest, “consider your captures” can mean noticing “rook takes bishop is possible,” and then “is the bishop protected… no… free piece, Rxe7!”:

More generally, it means saying “yes!” more than “no!” to a fair trade, such as Rxe8:

And eventually, you do indeed learn what a good reason to trade is, for example weakening the opponent’s pawn structure, here by Nxf6 gxf6:

When you are able to direct your attention to the right places, you will both cut down on your blunders (“how did I miss that move?”) and spot more of your opportunities (“how did I miss that move!”). Captures are some of the first moves you should always look for.